Although I love my home, we've lived here for 27 years, and I really wanted to make some changes to the areas that have been bothering me for years.
This room will stay intact but the front elevation and the staircase are two things that I've never liked. Spurred on by our old galvanized pipes bursting, we decided to revamp our bathrooms and tackle the front elevation and staircase issues.
Ken Newberry, the founding principal of Newberry Campa Architects, is an architect whom I have always truly admired! Working with him on the most amazing projects (see above), I honestly was a bit nervous to approach him about helping out. Here are a few more of the gorgeous homes that we've done together:
Designer: Cathy Chapman
Designer: Kara Childress
Seeing him at a job, I took a moment to discuss my small project and see if he'd be interested in taking it on. He said "YES" enthusiastically!!! We started with the interior, and I was simply amazed by the outcome.
We have a narrow entrance and a very large staircase that ends 3 ft from my front door. Ken immediately explained why it's been troubling me all this time... our staircase is backwards or upside-down! Most of these "Gone with the Wind" staircases are placed in grander entrances so they start smaller at the top and then curve out at the bottom. Ours, however, is the reverse - it starts very large at the top and gets smaller at the base.
Here's the plan. By taking the staircase across and down and widening the entrances to the living room and dining room, Ken visually increases the size of the entrance way. The staircase balustrade forms a wall going into the music room. To downplay the huge ceiling differences between the entrance and the neighboring rooms (which have 9 ft ceilings), he suggested raising and widening the openings to the living room and dining room. If this isn’t brilliant enough, he also opened up the area behind the music room and turned it into a study, complete with sliding barn doors on rails. This way, you can look straight through this side of the house to a garden he designed beyond the new iron doors.
Here is his drawing of the front of my house--They drew me in younger and thinner!!! Told you they were nice!!!
Here is the house!! The exterior is the most drastic of all the changes!!! The front, in my opinion, seemed very tall with a sloping roof line on either side. Please don’t look at the landscaping... we've let it go because of this project. Yikes!!!
The after is just stunning! He took my 60s home and transformed it completely! I told Ken and gang how much I love the architecture of the 1930s and how I wanted an updated slant. When they went over the final plans with me, I teared up... Ken and his team, sweet as they are, thought I didn’t like what they had done, but I LOVED it!!! What a drastic change - turning the home I love because of all the memories held there into a home style I have only dreamt about!!!!!!!! Ken, Will and Gina are all soooooo nice and just incredibly talented!
A bit about Ken!
After receiving his bachelors degree in Architecture from the University of Houston, he attended the University of Rome in Florence and Rome, Italy. He's a licensed architect in the states of Texas, Colorado, Florida and Virginia, and he's also a LEED Accredited Professional for New Construction with the US Green Building Council. Recognized for his progressive use of traditional and modern construction materials in both new construction and remodeling projects, Ken's work includes custom residential, commercial, restaurant, and retail projects.
Ken is as nice and generous as he is talented! As the founding board member of Starfish Kenya, he travels to Kenya and works with his firm to design of all of the buildings and facilities at the House of Hope Orphanages. He also serves on the executive board for the AIDS Foundation Houston, and he's a member of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance and the Houston Heights Association. A founding member of the Boys to Men Texas Chapter, Ken has also helped to bring this mentoring program to Texas.
Well, I think everyone is just as enamored with the phenomenal change to my home's front elevation as I am. Ken Newberry and his team at Newberry Campa Architects were not only responsive and creative, but they really took my home, built in the 60s, into the next generation. Nice, down to earth, extremely talented, and just brilliant! I highly recommend them!!!!!!!
The Master Bath Renovation has begun......... see below!!!!
I am taking the renovation in stages, and we're now starting on the bathroom portion of the project, so I'm excited to send you some updates along the way! We are gutting and revamping the master bath and the two upstairs baths!!
'Til next week!
xo Leslie
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